A little advance planning will make insurance enrollment or renewal a breeze. November is going to be a big month! After Election Day on November 4th, the next date to remember is November 15th — the day open enrollment through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace begins. If you’ve already bought health insurance through the ACA marketplace (aka Obamacare), you […]

Even with insurance, some people can’t afford treatment or preventive medications. Advocates are working on solutions. Imagine being diagnosed with HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS, and being reassured that with treatment there’s no reason for the quality or length of your life to be diminished. Then imagine being told that the drugs you need to start taking right […]

The conservative group Independent Women’s Voice announced yesterday that Terri Lynn Land has signed their “Pledge to Repeal Obamacare”. The pledge reads: The Repeal Pledge (Candidate Version) I pledge, if elected, to vote for all bills which seek to REPEAL the health care bill, HR 3590, signed into law on March 23, 2010.* To that end, I would now and […]

Back when Michigan legislators were debating whether to expand Medicaid in our state through the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), Rick Snyder expressed his concern that our state didn’t “have enough capacity to put essentially 400,000 more people into a medical home model with a primary care environment, as opposed to having them simply go to an ER”. That’s the sort […]

At Netroots Nation 2014, I explained why I think Obamacare is a winning issue for Democrats — and what we can do to help. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. And I’m a firm believer that Obamacare is a winning issue for Democrats. To make the case for […]

The Affordable Care Act gives everyone the freedom to change jobs without worrying about finding affordable insurance, even outside the open enrollment period. When Maria changed from a job that provided health insurance to one that didn’t, she wasn’t worried for a moment about getting covered — even though she has a pre-existing condition. That’s because she knew she could […]

Less than one minute could stop corporations like Hobby Lobby from violating women’s reproductive rights. You may have heard the great news that the Obama administration has introduced a plan to make sure women continue to have access to contraception without a co-pay — one of the tenets of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that helps ensure that women don’t […]

One 27-year-old with multiple part-time jobs on how important — and easy — it is to get health insurance. With apologies to James Brown, Marcus Laban may be the hardest-working man in show business. He works part-time for a casting director, directs high school plays on a seasonal basis and just ended a tour with the Michigan Shakespeare Festival. To […]

Some insurers want to raise your rates significantly for 2015. In Michigan, it’s your right to tell them how you feel about that. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has gone a long way toward making health insurance more affordable, but until there’s full reform of the insurance industry, there isn’t very much incentive for insurance companies to stop raising your […]

With the recent conflicting rulings by federal courts over whether subsidies for health insurance can be used by residents in states relying on the federal health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act, there is discussion of revisiting the creation of a state-run exchange in Michigan. There could be another push in Lansing to set up a state-run website […]

Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog A federal court’s decision in the Halbig v. Burwell lawsuit earlier this month threatens the Affordable Care Act subisidies of nearly a half million Michiganders. The ruling contends that the law is written to exclude subsidies from residents in states that rely on the federal health insurance exchange. This, of course, wouldn’t […]